Helpless
by PonyGrim
Summary: Ruby is separated from Sapphire. Sapphire's simply on the other side of the glass, but she's in pain. And Ruby can't help her. (Collab by: Monty and iNsANiTy/Onix)
1. Energy

She opened her eyes.

At first, she was confused. Why had she been asleep? Gems didn't need sleep. Then again, her entire body ached. Perhaps she had retreated into her gem as a result of injury. That would explain the horrible emptiness she felt in her chest…

 _Sapphire_.

"Sapphire?" Ruby whispered, struggling to her feet. She felt awful. The cold air surrounded her body, sending a chill down her spine. Where was Sapphire? Usually she could sense when her friends were close by. Then again, that could just be an ability of her friend's. "Sapphire? Sapphire!" Her shouts bounced off the walls of the small containment she was in, returning unanswered to her ears.

Looking around her cell frantically, she whipped her head around and let out a gasp of relief. Sapphire lay just a few feet away from her, eyes closed and motionless. Ruby wasted no time in running towards her friend, yelling her name quickly. "Sapphire, Sapphire, Sapph-"

Her cry was cut off as she collided with something. Blinking away tears of pain, the red gem took a hasty step back and rubbed her sore nose. "Ow! Hey, what's with this!" She glared angrily at the air in front of her, noticing a bit too late that there was a tiny gleam of light reflecting off it. It must be some sort of semi-invisible gem field…

As she drew herself up, utter panic swept through her again. Sapphire was lying on the other side of the field. Alone.

"SAPPHIRE!" Ruby screamed, banging her fists against the field in utter desperation. She knew she couldn't hope to break through it, but her other was lying so still… she couldn't be dead, but she wasn't waking up. What had they done to her? Why couldn't she hear her cries?

"Subject 1 has woken up." Ruby was shocked briefly out of her panic as a slightly raspy voice echoed through her cell, rather like Peridot's but different somehow. It seemed to be coming from somewhere outside the containment. "Preceding to remove soporific gases from subject 2's chamber. Recording reaction and emotional stages… now."

Almost as though she had been shocked, Sapphire's eyes snapped open. Ruby took a step back, not wanting to scare Sapphire lest the taller gem be in the same sleepy state she had been in. The blue gem blinked, pulling herself to her feet and looking around the cell blearily.

"Sapphire? Sapphire, can you hear me?" Ruby called. Sapphire showed absolutely no reaction. The red gem took in a deep breath, feeling the same uncomfortable butterflies start up in her stomach again. No, not butterflies - wasps. They stung her with anxiety, their pricks sending frantic venom through her head.

* * *

On the other side of the field, Sapphire was brushing down her dress and staring about, wondering what had happened. She couldn't see anything. Three of the walls of the small cell she was in were a bland white, while the fourth one just across from her was a strange blurry color. It flickered occasionally, prompting her to wonder exactly what it was.

As she peered at the strange wall, a pang of loneliness suddenly took hold of her. What was wrong? She felt as though something were horribly wrong, like something was gone…

 _Ruby_.

Sapphire stood and looked around, heavy anxiety quickly etching itself on her face. "Ruby?" she called, panic shaking her tone. When no answer came, the blue gem shrunk into a corner, staring around frantically. "Ruby!" Still, there was no reply.

Shutting her eyes, Sapphire began to think as hard as she could. _Ok. Ruby's gone. I'm trapped in a cell, most likely by homeworld gems because of the strange wall. That's most likely some sort of energy field. Also, I'm hearing some sort of crackling noise from the ceiling… How exactly could this get any worse?_

Her question was answered as a voice came from near the ceiling, presumably from some sort of observation chamber. "Beginning test one. Technician, engage electric fields."

"Engaging." That was a familiar voice. Where had she heard that before?

The answer came as soon as the painful shock from the wall she was leaning against did. _Peridot_.

Sapphire let out a yelp and jumped away from the wall. A loud hum was being emitted from it, as though machinery was in use, and it was glowing faintly. She yelled again as another wall hummed and agonizing electricity jolted her teeth, spreading out from where her fingers were brushing it. She immediately ran into the middle of the room, away from the electric walls. All four were humming and glowing now, including the energy field to the right.

Sapphire took a deep breath. _It's ok. As long as you don't lean on any walls, you won't be electrocuted and won't need to retreat into your gem. You're safe here_.

Her mind was immediately changed as an incredible whirring started underneath her. Looking down, she swallowed down her dread as an unmistakable glow started beneath her feet. She barely had time to gasp before a huge surge of electricity entered the floor and hit her limbs like fire.

A loud shriek of pain tore its way from her throat as her limbs convulsed, the floor electrocuting her with terrifying intensity. She leaped into the air, only freed from the agony for a second before she crashed down into a world of pain again. Her earth-shattering cries began to die after a minute or two of spasming, her throat growing painfully raw and her limbs fatigued.

It was too horrible. The electricity reminded her so much of her red skinned companion, who had been able to channel energy with simply her hands. Every shock felt as though it were coming from her, though Sapphire knew it couldn't be.

Just as she thought that the electricity would become too much and she would retreat into her gem, the humming died down and the suffering ended. Letting out a faint moan of pain, Sapphire slumped to the floor and closed her eyes, tears welling up threateningly as she took a few deep breaths.

The humming disappeared in the surrounding walls, too. Once she was sure all electricity was gone, Sapphire opened her eyes and lifted her head, scanning the cell once again wearily. The crackling near the ceiling started up again.

"Test one completed. Beginning recovery observations on subject 2."

Sapphire didn't speak. She simply lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling silently and allowing her body to slowly recover.

* * *

"What? What's going on?!" Ruby shouted up towards the ceiling. What did they mean by electric fields? Why couldn't she get near Sapphire? Why did she have to be so close…

Of course, no reply came. Ruby let out a shout of pure anger and stomped furiously, her hands curling into tight fists. She punched the wall, feeling shame as she whimpered in pain. That wall had to be made out of something extremely hard.

Suddenly, she heard humming. Her gaze snapped up just in time to see Sapphire leap away from one of the walls, her mouth opening. Ruby's mouth dropped open when she heard a loud cry of agony from the blue gem. _Why can I hear her too, when she can't hear me?_

The red gem didn't have much time to dwell on this before her other leaped away from another wall, huddling in the center of the room. The humming grew even louder, and Ruby felt her lungs becoming dry as she let out a scream of pure terror and fury for her trapped companion when Sapphire sparked with electricity and cried out in pain.

The blue gem stayed in that position for almost a minute, twitching and shrieking, her cries eventually diminishing into whimpers. Ruby felt like throwing up as her shouts went unheard.

Her natural instinct was to protect the ones she loved, and most specifically the gem on the other side of the field. She was built to fight, to annihilate in order to save and guard her friends. But there was nothing to punch here. There was nothing she could do but sit and watch her love shake in utter anguish, her instinct fighting and fighting uselessly.

Finally, the energy seemed to die down as Sapphire fell, her twitching stopping. Ruby, who had been pounding angrily on the field to no avail, fell with her, eyes staring with panic and silent rage at the floor on the other side.

There was nothing either of them could do. Especially Ruby. She could only stare as the other gem picked herself up, a tear running down from underneath her hair and her shoulders hanging back. She was defeated. They were both defeated.

But there was clearly still so much more to come.

* * *

 **A/N: A side story I thought I'd do to get rid of my writer's block. Basically, in this story, Homeworld has captured Sapphire and Ruby and separated them. Peridot knows that they share an incredible bond, and the gem scientists want to know just how strong that bond is. So what do they do? Put Sapphire through increasing levels of pain in front of Ruby, watching her reaction until she breaks.**

 **I should update relatively soon, if anybody actually likes this…**


	2. Warmth

**Chapter Two**

Ruby lay on the floor, watching Sapphire out of the corner of her eye. It had to have been hours since they had woken up. Nothing had happened since, and the red gem felt furiously bored and angry at the same time.

Why was she here? What did these gems want with her? What did they want with Sapphire?

"Let me go!" she screamed for the millionth time. "Let Sapphire go! Why do you need us, anyway?!"

There was no answer from the area where she had heard voices before. Letting out a growl of rage, she punched the floor before feeling tiny bit of fight drain out of her. Taking a breath, she looked back up at the ceiling.

"If you're going to hurt somebody, hurt me! Don't hurt her! Stop!"

The red gem was almost shocked out of her skin when the same raspy, sarcastic voice rang out in reply. "No."

At first, Ruby was quiet. Then, with an explosion of utter anger, she yelled back, "No?! NO?! WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!"

The mysterious voice from the ceiling chose not to respond. Snarling to herself and clawing at the field again, Ruby curled up in a seething ball of rage. Why couldn't she do anything? This was stupid. This was utterly stupid. There had to be something to fight, there needed to be something she could hurt… Something she could hurt to make Sapphire stop hurting…

Suddenly, the voice came again. "Beginning test two. Climate control, rise to 2,000 degrees Celsius… Prepare to lower in case of emergency…"

* * *

Sapphire stared up at the ceiling. Climate control? What could they possibly mean by that?

She looked fearfully over at the walls around her. The three normal ones, as well as the ceiling and the floor, were now giving off a painfully familiar red glow, while the fourth wall stayed the same color. She stared at the light, feeling herself grow uncomfortably anxious as a deep burning heat began below her feet.

Sapphire, at that moment, had never felt more terrified. 2,000 degrees Celsius? That was at least a thousand degrees hotter than lava… How long was it going to take to heat up the room? Could she even survive temperatures like that? She let out a soft mumble of discomfort, wiping her suddenly-warm brow.

Minutes passed. The room rose in temperature, and by now Sapphire was panting softly in an attempt to keep cool. Sweat beaded on her neck and face, and she was fighting the urge to completely give in to the horrible hotness. She could survive this. She was a gem. 2,000 degrees was nothing, right?

Perhaps another few minutes and Sapphire had allowed herself to lie on the floor, despite the fact it may have been the hottest of all the areas in her cell. Her left hand was clenched tightly in distress, while her right was kept open so that her gem had the best ventilation possible.

A minute more and Sapphire had an idea. The fourth wall, the field, didn't seem to be producing any heat. Perhaps if she went over there, it would be a bit cooler… And maybe then she wouldn't feel so uncomfortable…

"1,500 degrees reached," announced the raspy voice from the ceiling, not making Sapphire feel any better at all. She crawled over to the field, feeling her tiny nose touch it first. She almost cried out with relief upon discovering it was indeed less warm. She pressed her gem up against the cool of the field, shutting her eyes and hoping for the heat to end.

A few moments, and it seemed that the heat directly spiked up in temperature. Even the temporary oasis of the field had grown painfully hot, and Sapphire stuck her gem hand up into the open air to keep cool. She was lucky her body wasn't organic, as it was most likely her flesh would be burning up by now.

She could almost hear pounding from the walls as blood rushed through her body. Was that pounding? Was she hallucinating audio? Was it actually real?

"2,000 degrees," came the voice again, and Sapphire felt like crying. By now, she was completely and totally in pain, and her gem felt almost runny. She didn't know what exactly a gem like her could survive, but she had a horrible sinking suspicion that the melting point was extremely close to her current temperature. She just wanted it to end, wanted to cool down again… a few more minutes of this and she might just retreat…

She let out a tiny wail of pain through clenched teeth, not wanting the enemy to hear her admitting she was weak. The blue gem finally curled up on the ground in a ball. The heat was too much. She couldn't stand it any longer. She was completely and utterly miserable.

"Disengage," came the voice at last. A soft whooshing noise came from the ceiling, and Sapphire continued to pant until she felt wonderfully cool air entering her lungs, one breath after the other. She allowed herself to stay in her huddled position for a few more moments before pulling herself up into a standing position, flexing her right hand.

It was a few minutes before the heat was completely gone, but the absence of it had a great effect on the blue gem. She was shaky, barely managing to stay in a standing position, but her gem was no longer of a terrifyingly delicate consistency. She was ok. She had survived. But what would happen next?

For a moment, she thought she heard a thump on the other side of the field.

* * *

It was perhaps rather fortunate that nobody could hear Ruby in that moment, for she was spitting out a stream of expletives so profane that Pearl would have literally washed out her mouth with human-manufactured soap. What kind of test was this? What were they doing?

She got her answer when the walls in Sapphire's room began to glow the same shade of red as her skin, but a bit brighter. Sapphire was looking around, clearly uncomfortable and scared, though she didn't seem to be in pain…

A minute or two passed, and Ruby could only watch as Sapphire paced back and forth, sweat running down her face and dampening her hair. The red gem growled loudly as she watched her other open her mouth, clearly trying to keep herself cooled down. As far as Ruby's abilities went, she didn't have many issues with heat, but it was a different story for the blue gem on the other side of the field.

Sapphire lay down on the floor. Ruby hissed in fury. Nobody had the right to make her Sapphire feel like that. Nobody had the right to hurt her.

The red gem's mouth opened slightly when her other started to crawl across the red-hot floor, her fingernails digging into the ground. Ruby's heart pounded when Sapphire's hand touched the field, her body sluggish and dangerously warm. She placed her hand on the field as well, and felt like crying. She could almost feel the cool of Sapphire's hand through the barrier, longing for their skin to touch, longing to feel the other gem's presence again.

Sapphire moved her hand away, lying on her back and scrunching up her face in misery. And Ruby started to hit the field, screaming her name. With every blow, she just felt more pain in her weakened knuckles, but she didn't care. She didn't care if it took her a millennia to break through this damned wall, because when she eventually managed it, she was going to grab Sapphire and _protect her_.

The last few moments of the torture passed by in a blur before the red started to fade from Sapphire's walls, and Ruby stopped pounding on the field. A few drops of blood pattered on the ground as she unclenched and clenched her fists, and she cursed. Nothing could ever hurt as much as having to watch that.

Sapphire finally stood, and Ruby couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of relief course through her body. She was ok. The red gem let out the giant breath she had been holding, slumping against the field with a loud thumping noise.

She was ok. For now.

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter, I know. But next chapter, stuff's really going to start going down… hehe… *coughs***

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, and please review!**


	3. Breaking In

**Chapter Three**

Ruby's head snapped up, her breath coming fast and shallow.

She had fallen into dormancy, or sleep, as humans referred to it. Gems didn't need sleep, and she wasn't accustomed to it in her normal form, especially not the dreams that came with it. Sometimes Steven spoke about how dreams could reflect deeper desires or metaphors within a life, to which she would inwardly smile in a loving fashion at his childish interpretations. But now, sitting on the cold floor in an unknown facility with her other half lying just a few feet away, she realized she may have been wrong.

Upon falling asleep, she had dreamt of waking up in the temple. Steven had been relaxing on the couch with Connie, seemingly tired out from something, and she could have spotted Pearl and Amethyst sitting together on the porch. As she moved to rise, however, she realized something wonderful.

She was complete. She couldn't feel Sapphire's body because she was fused with her, the two entities comfortably merged as one. She couldn't resist the urge to grin when she felt Sapphire's slight playfulness intermingling with her own loving, protective nature.

Garnet rose and walked across the room, staring out at the beach. The sun was rising, the clouds like strokes of a white watercolor brush on peach-colored paper and the water like glass. The wonderful warm light of the morning reflected off her dark glasses, covering her skin in a soft glow. It was astoundingly beautiful.

Briefly she thought back to that horrible facility. When had she left there? A month ago? A year ago? Steven didn't seem to have aged. It didn't matter, though. She was here now. Fused, Sapphire part of her once again just as she was a part of the blue gem.

She had blinked, and everything faded into grey.

Ruby let out a loud cry of rage and threw herself against the field, desperation overtaking her as she recalled the painfully wonderful dream. She needed to experience that. She couldn't just lie here forever, watching the one she loved be tormented over and over again.

Collapsing to the floor in a miserable heap, she stared into the cell across from her. Sapphire seemed to have calmed down a bit since the… heat treatment, but she was still clearly frightened. The blue gem stood, her head lowered and her gaze flickering across the room. Ruby sighed.

This was torture. Absolute, utter torture.

She stood up, pressing her hand against the field and wishing with all her might that Sapphire would think to come over here. They may be separated, but seeing her face and wishing to feel her hand might just make it better. After a few seconds of Sapphire not sensing her, Ruby mumbled to herself and turned away, starting to pace.

All walls were identical, excluding the energy field between her and Sapphire, which seemed to actually be stronger than the others. The ceiling and the floor were made out of similar material. Even after summoning her gauntlet multiple times, Ruby still wasn't able to make a dent in any of her surroundings. Even the corners, which sometimes tended to be weaker when she had been in other containments in the past, were completely solid. No escape there.

However, they did seem to be able to generate different things, as well as having the ability to conduct electricity, judging by the nature of the neighboring cell. Burning through the walls didn't seem to be an option, (if, by some meager chance, she found a way to generate heat) due to the fact she'd probably melt before they did. Shapeshifting parts of her body larger had no effect. She supposed she could send a burst of electrical current through the walls, but she had no idea what the effect of _that_ would be, and besides, she was barely strong enough to create a spark.

She growled loudly like a caged animal and clenched her hands together, hoping the reassuring feeling of her own gem would help curb her anger. Beating herself up in this situation wasn't going to help. She had already seen enough damage.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw movement.

She whipped around, mouth opening slightly. Sapphire was staring at one of the walls fearfully in the other cell. Within a moment, Ruby could see why. It was sliding up, revealing a doorway and outlining a figure.

The figure stepped into Sapphire's cell, the door shutting extremely quickly behind it. Ruby could see now it was a bluish-green gem with a rather business-like, but yet bored, expression on her face and her gem set carefully between her eyes. In one hand, she carried something that looked rather like a human gun.

The new gem clicked something on a screen strapped onto her arm and lifted up the hand with the gun-like machine, seeming to check it before pulling a small cap off the tip. Ruby had to cover her mouth when she saw what had been underneath the cap, a chisel-like tip that almost looked like the end of a flathead screwdriver, but far sharper.

Sapphire had started to back up against the wall as the other gem approached her. Ruby clenched her fists and pressed herself up against the field. She gritted her teeth as she heard the new gem speak.

"Just hold still, and this will go a lot faster," she rasped, eyes cold. "Probably won't hurt much… at first, anyway."

"What are you doing?!" yelled Ruby, pounding on the field frantically. Sapphire was now pressing herself up against the wall, hands shaking and head whipping around. The new gem rolled her eyes at the behavior and sauntered across the cell, reaching out to grab Sapphire's collar.

Unfortunately for her, Sapphire was _incredibly_ fast.

Ruby barely had time to gasp before Sapphire shot out from beneath the other gem's shadow and zipped across to the other side of the cell. The gem let out a startled cry as the blue streak slapped against her fingers. Once she wasn't cornered, Sapphire stopped, pulling herself into a defensive position like a wounded cat.

The red gem was torn between cheering on her speedy girlfriend and wasting yet another attempt breaking down the field to get to her. Unfortunately, the infernal thing still refused to give. The new gem in Sapphire's cell was angrily approaching her now, an almost amusingly irritated expression on her face and her fingers clenched painfully around her weapon.

Once she lunged, Sapphire sped away from her fingertips once again, shooting towards the field. Ruby backed away, forgetting for a split second that they were separated by the field. Sapphire caught herself and turned around, facing the now-infuriated gem who was stomping towards her.

"I don't like to repeat myself," she hissed, brandishing the chisel-gun and slowing down. Ruby saw both gems on the other side of the field tense. Sapphire crouched down, ready to sprint off in yet another direction and her adversary reminding Ruby uncomfortably of a stalking predator.

The other gem pounced. Sapphire leaped out of the way and rebounded off a wall, circling her foe no less than three times before slowing to a halt. The gem snarled at her and continued to stalk towards her.

This continued on for almost five more minutes, Ruby inwardly cheering every time her girlfriend avoided the taller gem's attacks. However, Sapphire was greatly weakened from her solitary neglect, as well as the multiple tests she had been put under, and it was clear she was growing exhausted. Ruby wasn't the only one who noticed this, as the other gem was putting less and less effort into pouncing on Sapphire and more in stalking her down.

Finally, Sapphire was backed into a corner. The tall gem leered down at her, and Ruby screamed loudly in anger. Nobody had the right to make Sapphire feel scared like that. "Don't move," drawled the gem, reaching for Sapphire's right arm and raising her weapon.

Sapphire bolted.

As soon as the blue gem started to move, the taller one gave chase. To Ruby, running after Sapphire was going to get the homeworld gem nowhere. However, the red gem covered her mouth to stifle a screech when the tall one reached into her gem and retrieved a light-turquoise bola. The taller gem threw it with deadly accuracy.

Sapphire's sprint was cut short as the bola slammed around her legs, the balls clicking together with a rather final sound. The blue gem fell, landing on the floor and whipping around as the taller gem advanced on her. The taller gem smirked, typing something into the screen on her arm.

"How…" Sapphire trailed off as the other gem almost laughed.

"Some gems have more useful weapons than others," the gem replied.

Ruby almost broke her own fingers punching at the field as the taller gem grabbed Sapphire's arm. Sapphire struggled furiously, letting out high-pitched whines of desperation and anger. The taller gem simply smirked as she drew the chisel-gun.

"No! NO! STOP! DON'T HURT HER!"

Almost as though she could hear her, the tall gem in Sapphire's cell turned her head, that cruel grin still tugging at her lips. As she tore the glove off Sapphire's right arm and forced her fingers open, Ruby could have sworn she saw a glint of mirth in her eyes. "I'm afraid I have to."

The sound of a gem cracking echoed throughout the room.

Ruby's scream of fury mingled with Sapphire's pained one. The taller gem got up, putting the cap back on her chisel-gun and sliding it into her belt. As Sapphire lay on the floor, hands clenched around her wounded gem, her defeater smiled and left the room.

By now, Ruby was desperately throwing herself at the field, shrieking out unintelligible words with every hit. You could hurt a gem's body as much as you wanted, and they'd be ok, but damage the gem… Sapphire was in serious danger now. That machine the other gem had used had gouged a deep crack in the otherwise-flawless surface, far deeper than the one Amethyst had a year or so ago.

If Sapphire ever needed protecting, now was the time. And Ruby was powerless. Completely and utterly powerless.

Sapphire curled up on the floor, huddling around her hand and pawing at her face. She was biting her lip, her straight teeth breaking through the skin on the bottom. Ruby could see why. Some of her hair was displaced as she shivered, and the red gem spotted one of her eyes. It had lost all of its color.

Sapphire was now blind.

Obscenities echoed through the empty cell as Ruby sunk to the floor, burying her face in her hands. It was too much. She didn't want to look anymore. As she squeezed her eyes shut, she tried to convince herself this was some horrible, horrible dream… She had to still be dreaming… Any minute now, she was going to wake up and Sapphire was going to be shaking her…

But of course that didn't happen. When Ruby opened her eyes, she was still huddled on the floor of an unknown cell, staring helplessly as the gem she loved curled herself into a ball of pain. A feeble whimper escaped Sapphire as she buried her head and hands into her mess of hair, and Ruby wanted to punch through the wall.

Slowly, the red gem rose, feeling a deep anger rise inside her. Both fists were clenched, eyes tearing up, entire body shaking with an unfathomable fury. She could feel her skin growing hot, feel every part of her physical form tensing with rage. She was going to do it. She was going to break down this wall, or die trying.

Her first strike completely drained her. The entire cell shook as her balled fist connected with the field, the floor reverberating beneath her feet. All the anger that had been built up in the last minute was sapped with that one punch, that ultimately did nothing but knock her off her feet.

Pulling herself into a sitting position, Ruby covered her ears as Sapphire gave a soft, barely-audible cry of agony. There was nothing worse than having your gem cracked, and even through the unbreakable field, the red gem could feel her lover's pain. Staring up at the ceiling, Ruby sighed as the emotion slowly seeped out of her.

 _At this point, is fighting back even worth it?_

But as she thought those words, the gem furiously shook her head. No. She was wrong. Maybe fighting for herself wasn't worth it, and maybe fighting for the sake of fighting wasn't even worth it, either.

Sapphire was worth fighting for, though. And in Ruby's mind, that would _never_ change.

* * *

 **A/N: So, last weeks of our school are flying by, so we wanted to give you guys another chapter. We've been brainstorming some… interesting themes for next chapter, so I hope you dudes are ready. We'll have it out soon.**


	4. Visions

**Chapter Four**

It felt as though her very being were falling apart.

Sapphire hadn't cried in a long time, and every tear hurt her more than the last, though nothing was as painful as the horrible throbbing from her cracked gem. She couldn't see anything. All she could perceive was the cold floor beneath her, and the pounding of her own head. If a threat came now, she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

Sighing, Sapphire squeezed her eyes shut and allowed herself to go limp at last. This was it. She probably wasn't going to make it out of this.

"Steven," she murmured softly. "Steven, Pearl, Amethyst… I'm so sorry. I should have fought back. I should have found my way home." Her gem gave a particularly powerful surge, and she whimpered, stopping her stream of apologies for a moment. As soon as the pain had passed, she continued.

"Ruby… Oh Ruby, I wish I could have found you. I… I love you so much… I just wish I could have been stronger…" Oddly enough, the blue gem thought she heard a different pound, this time coming from the field. After a moment of no sound, she dismissed it sadly. "I love you… My Ruby, I only wish…" She trailed off, feeling as though she were leaving somebody out. With a pang, she remembered.

"Garnet… I'm sorry you're split up. I'm sorry you're going to lose a half… Garnet, please forgive me…" Sapphire went silent, clenching her teeth. It was awful. She couldn't do this anymore.

"I'm so sorry…"

The cell was deathly silent for a moment. Then, Sapphire heard the sound of hissing from the entrance wall, and held perfectly still. Somebody was entering her room.

Footsteps echoed off the walls, and Sapphire shivered as she felt someone grow near. She resisted the urge to cry out when somebody grabbed her arm.

"Hush…" The voice was different from the last one, a bit softer somehow, and less rough. Strangely, there seemed to be a note of carefully hidden sympathy in it. "Relax. This will not hurt your physical form, nor your gem directly. Please hold still."

Sapphire obeyed. It wasn't like she had anything else to do.

The blue gem felt the hand moving her sleeve up a bit, followed by a small prick in her shoulder. Instantly, she felt dizzy and disoriented. She could have sworn she heard the voice grow a bit shaky and sad as the other being departed her cell. "This is a test. Calm yourself, Sapphire, it will be over soon." Below that, she strained her ears as a lower, more angry murmur came. "And maybe they'll finally let you see her for once…"

The blue gem tried to choke out a plea, but nothing seemed to be working. _Her?_ Did they mean Ruby? Was Ruby here? Oh gosh, what if they were hurting her too? That couldn't be happening. Sapphire didn't want that to happen.

However, she didn't have much time to dwell on that possibility as pain swamped her head. She cried out and struck at the floor, not even sure it was the floor anymore due to her sense of gravity completely malfunctioning. She was beyond dizzy. She was sure she was going to retreat any moment now-

Sapphire gasped and opened her eyes. All around her was white.

Completely in shock, she raised her head. How was she seeing? The crack in her gem would impair her from using either of her sights, though honestly her future vision didn't seem to work in this strange facility anyway. Looking down, she covered her mouth as she saw her hand, now missing the white glove usually covering it.

The crack was completely black, as though somebody had filled it up with dark ink. She still felt an almost overwhelming pain from it. It wasn't healed.

Getting to her feet, Sapphire stumbled a bit. The world was tilting sideways, and she put out her hands to steady herself. This was too strange. She squinted, brushing down her clothes and gazing into the distance.

Far off, she could see a small dot. _Well, if that's something, I'd better find out what it is_ , she reasoned with herself. Taking care to walk slowly and pace herself, she delicately made her way towards the dark mark she saw amidst the white.

As she drew closer, she realized that the dark shape was a figure. Somebody was kneeling down on the ground, seemingly marking something out. Sapphire was unable to see much, but she could tell by the dark red hue that the figure must be a gem.

Covering her mouth, she had a sudden thought. Was if it was Ruby?

Sapphire started to run, not paying any mind to the rushing of blood to her head and her sense of balance flipping out. If Ruby was there, nothing mattered except her. She needed to see Ruby again, needed to feel her arms, needed to kiss her cheek and hold her close… Every fabric of her being ached with emotional agony. Being separated from her love was making her panic all over again.

However, as soon as she was within earshot of the figure, she whipped around. Sapphire was briefly overjoyed to see it was indeed Ruby, but then noticed the furious look on her partner's face. She slowed her pace, approaching the red gem cautiously.

"Ruby!" she cried, feeling a jubilant smile spread across her face. "Ruby, is that actually-"

She was cut off as Ruby leaped into the air, kicking her to the ground. Completely caught off guard, she smacked against the white floor without catching herself. Ruby stomped over to her, glaring down at her while she stared on in shock.

"Get away from me!" the red gem growled, kicking her again. "Go on, run!"

"Ruby-"

"Shut up!" Ruby screamed. "I hate you! Go away!"

Still completely taken off guard, Sapphire dragged herself a few feet away, not wanting to be hit again. Her heart was pounding. Why was Ruby hurting her? What was wrong? "Ruby, wha-"

"Stop talking!" Ruby snarled.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" Sapphire burst out, staring up at her love with angry tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ruby drew herself up incredulously. "What's wrong?! You're a useless defect! Scum like you shouldn't be allowed to exist! I can't believe I thought for a moment you were ever worth something!" Her words were full of venom.

Sapphire was utterly silent. Deep inside her, she could feel something starting to crack as the red gem carried on with her rant. "Worthless! Absolutely worthless! You are a mistake! Everything about you is wrong! You are nothing to me!"

"Ruby…" the blue gem whispered. Her voice was shaking.

"You are nothing!" Ruby repeated, staring down at her with undisguised loathing. Sapphire was thrown back as she kicked her roughly in the arm. "Now go away! You disgust me!"

Lost for words, Sapphire began to drag herself further. Ruby turned around and sat back down once she was at least fifteen feet away and resumed whatever she had been doing. The blue gem was hiding her face in her hair, but she couldn't help but look one last time at her love.

The red gem looked back with utter revulsion. Something inside Sapphire broke.

Sapphire pulled herself further in silence. Once Ruby was nothing more than a black dot in the distance, she buried her face in her hands and began to shake with dry sobs. Hatred for herself trickled from her eyes, slicking her palms and dampening her hair. Ruby was right. Ruby had always been right.

The words echoed through the broken gem's mind. _You are nothing to me_.

"I'm… Nothing…" Sapphire choked out. "Worthless… Mistake… You're right, ok?! I'm wrong…"

She sunk deeper, squeezing her eyes shut and refusing to let any more tears through. Slowly, she felt as though the world were turning over, and different voices began to echo through her head.

" _I can't believe I looked up to you!"_ Steven shouted.

" _You seriously think you can stay here? When you're like that?!"_ Came Amethyst's disbelieving yell.

" _Get away from my family! You are not welcome here anymore!"_ Pearl cried.

Sapphire burrowed her face deeper in her clothing, trying desperately to muffle the horrible statements. Why was she thinking of those? Were those memories? They had to be memories… She was just remembering things she had buried deep… And now they were all coming back…

The voices were becoming her reality. The far cries of insanity through her mind were becoming recollections, the horrible vision of Ruby thoughtlessly kicking her becoming her present. This horrible nightmare was coming true.

She wailed, finally letting out her emotion in a verbal cry. It was too much.

* * *

Ruby was bleeding badly.

She had finally stopped throwing herself fruitlessly against the field when the other gem had left, after injecting Sapphire with some sort of fluid. However, her hands were bruised and cut from the pure amount of times she had smacked them against the walls, and she was pretty sure she had broken a finger.

Sapphire had stumbled to the ground, and was now blinking blindly at one of the walls. Ruby watched intently as she pulled herself to her feet. The blue gem started to slowly walk forward, squinting her sightless eyes and putting her hands out in front of her. Suddenly, she began to run.

 _She must be hallucinating_ , Ruby realized.

The blue gem ran a few more feet, and her partner found herself zoning out a bit. What could she possibly be imagining at the moment? What had that gem drugged her with? She looked almost completely out of it. Now she was slowing down, trotting towards the wall with an almost… happy expression?

The red gem jumped as she heard Sapphire shout, overjoyed. "Ruby! Ruby, is that actually-"

Ruby flinched as Sapphire slammed into the wall forcefully, smacking onto the ground. Squinting almost in disbelief, as though denying there were a wall there, the blue gem picked herself up and threw herself against it again. Ruby could only watch in disbelief as Sapphire dragged herself a few feet away, staring at the wall fearfully. "Ruby…"

The blue gem paused for a moment or two, before calling louder, "Ruby, wha-"

It hit Ruby like a freight train. Sapphire must be seeing her in her mind. Slowly, it dawned on her what the gem's intention must have been when she drugged Sapphire. _No, no, nonononono-_

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" Sapphire cried, and Ruby flinched again at the desperation in her voice. She was right. Why had she been right? Why couldn't they just leave Sapphire alone?

"Why are you doing this?!" Ruby yelled to no one in particular, feeling her fingers scream as she pressed them against the field. "Why are you hurting her?" No answer came.

The red gem's frantic train of thought was interrupted by the soft, heartbroken whisper of "Ruby…" from Sapphire. Trying to forget how much pain she was currently in, Ruby slammed herself against the field again to no avail. Sapphire took no notice, instead pulling herself further and further away from the wall until she was huddled in the center of the room. She covered her mouth slightly as she heard shaky sobs from underneath the mass of hair Sapphire had buried herself in.

"I'm nothing… Worthless mistake… You're right, ok?! I'm wrong…"

"Sapphire, you're not a mistake and you never will be!" Ruby shouted as loud as she could. "You mean more than I could ever imagine to me! Please hear me! Please understand!"

Sapphire showed absolutely no sign she had heard. Giving a scream of frustration, Ruby rammed herself into the wall once more. The blue gem simply burrowed deeper into her ball, trembling like a wounded animal. It was useless. Sapphire wasn't going to notice her anytime soon.

Ruby felt something deep inside her start to crack, not with sadness, but with a deep, consuming rage that she couldn't control. It was boiling just beneath her surface, hissing and scratching in low snarls. She hardly knew it was there. But she knew that built-up rage could never be contained. It would break free. It would break free, and destroy her final emotions at last.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner! I hope you guys had a good week. School is letting out for the rest of the team and I pretty soon, so I should have some more time to write. See you guys next week, and please review! I love getting feedback to help with the story.**


	5. Foggy

**Chapter Five**

Screams echoed through Sapphire's head. Ruby was gone. The voices were gone. All she could hear were the very faint, ringing calls and cries of everybody she knew. She could hear Steven's high-pitched yelps of panic, could hear Pearl's yells of desperation, Amethyst's heartbroken roar and Ruby's loud screech of pain. Below that, she thought she could make out Garnet, uncertainly calling, her voice growing more and more frantic.

She wasn't going to last much longer, and she knew that. She may as well try to communicate while she had the sanity to do so.

Rising to her feet as slowly as she could, Sapphire cleared her throat quietly. This would do nothing, she reminded herself. Nobody could hear her, anyway.

* * *

Ruby watched as Sapphire stood. She had no idea how long it had been since the blue gem had drawn herself out of her crying fit. Hours, maybe. Perhaps it was the next day already. However, she seemed to have calmed down significantly, and although it was clear she was still very much blind, and her footing was clearly uncertain, she had a determined expression on her face and her hands were clasped to her chest.

The red gem was surly at the moment, sitting criss-cross on the floor with her hands angrily digging into her hair. She had barely bothered to look up at Sapphire. That was, until she heard the first note.

Ruby's mouth opened, her eyes growing wide as Sapphire's soft, shaky voice entered her cell. Her song was quiet at first, but grew louder as she stood up straighter, face towards the ceiling and hair falling thickly over her shoulders. Ruby's heart pounded.

Why was she doing this? They weren't too many times when Sapphire sang. She had sometimes sung when Ruby was panicking, as a way of calming her down and reassuring her that she was there, but she couldn't have known Ruby was even close enough to hear her. She had also sung during the war…

Ruby squeezed her eyes shut. That's why. She was trying to call for help.

The red gem lay on her back, clenching and unclenching her fists while letting the sad, sweet sound of Sapphire's voice swim through her head. Memories of the pair of them fighting alongside each other were pouring through her mind. They had been captured, they had been separated, they had been beaten and they had been fought ruthlessly, and still, they were together. She couldn't bear for them to be split apart now.

The anger inside Ruby was nearly boiling over the top. She was seething silently, her limbs quivering and eye movements fast. There was an unstoppable energy slowly beginning to flow through her veins.

Sapphire finished her song and sat back down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Ruby looked away, cradling her injured hand, but looked back abruptly as she heard her partner's soft voice.

"I love you, Ruby. You probably can't hear me, but I love you. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

The red gem clenched her teeth as Sapphire continued. "I can't escape now, and I know you probably can't either. I'm probably not going to see you again. But Ruby, I love you, I love you so much… I hope you know that by now."

"I love you too, Sapphire," Ruby whispered, her voice rasping and shaky. She wanted to hit something as she felt tears dripping down her face. "S-same here."

She heard a sigh from the other cell before Sapphire lay down in the same position as her. She was less than three feet away. Just within reaching distance if the field hadn't been there. Ruby tried to relax her tensed body, but the stiffness refused to leave. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickling up.

"You know I'd do anything, right?" Sapphire murmured, startling the red gem on the other side of the field. "Anything for you. Anything to see you again, really. If what I saw earlier really happened, then… You probably hate me. But I'll never hate you. And I hope you know that as well."

"I've never hated you, Sapphire," Ruby responded in a blank tone. She knew the blue gem couldn't hear her.

"I wonder if Steven's ok," Sapphire mumbled. "And Pearl and Amethyst. They're probably scared, if they don't hate me too."

"Steven looks up to you, Sapphire. And Pearl and Amethyst, they care about you a lot."

"I hope they can protect Beach City without Garnet."

Ruby sighed. "Me too."

There was silence on both ends. Sapphire rolled over, turning away from Ruby, while the red gem hugged herself and hid her face in her chest. She wondered if Sapphire would want to speak again. Even if they weren't truly conversing, she rather liked answering. Scratch that, she just wanted to hear Sapphire's voice.

She heard a loud hissing noise and jumped. Sapphire too was rising to her feet, startled. The sound was coming from the ceiling of the blue gem's cell. A few more seconds of looking and Ruby spotted why.

A thick, whitish gas was spraying out of a hidden nozzle just a few inches below the top. It was billowing out and filling the top of the cell. It settled on the walls like chalk dust, floating slowly downward while more and more came from higher up. Sapphire was racing around her cell blindly now, confused noises coming from her. Instantly, the protective instinct inside Ruby snapped to its feet, and adrenaline filled the red gem.

Sapphire was crouching on the floor, trembling as the nasty-looking gas dripped closer and closer towards her. Ruby was entirely tensed, ready to swing uselessly at the field again with her uninjured hand.

Finally, some of the gas touched Sapphire. At first, it didn't seem to have any effect as it brushed her skin. For a second, Ruby relaxed. Perhaps it was simply a sedative to make her fall asleep, or maybe a hallucinogenic. Nothing that was going to physically harm her.

That was, of course, before Sapphire let out a scream of pain.

Ruby instantly pressed her face against the field, staring as Sapphire pawed at her gem, which the gas had come in contact with. The white residue the substance left was lodged in the long, deep crack gouged in it, hissing faintly as though…

 _As though it were melting her very gem_.

Sapphire was wrapping her hand in her dress now, but her entire body was becoming completely caked in the white substance the gas left. Soon, there wouldn't be anywhere for her to hide the vulnerable gem, and the dust would burn her until she had no choice but to shatter.

Ruby's throat was sore from screeching in fury.

She couldn't do anything. If she broke her other hand punching the field, she would be completely and utterly useless, and then she _really_ couldn't help Sapphire if she got the chance. There was no use in fighting. She was unable to help, and all the power she felt, the enormous energy surging through her, was for nothing.

So she sat down on the floor and continued to look on with heartbroken eyes, unable to do anything as her love cried out in pain.

The dusty gas was coming out quicker now. Ruby could barely see Sapphire through the chalky downpour of deadly substance. For some reason, it didn't seem to be sticking to the field, but in the other cell, it filled the space like a heavy fog. Sapphire's hand was clenched protectively around her gem, fingers digging into the farther-damaged crack. The red gem on the other side didn't even want to imagine how excruciating that might feel. Touching a cracked gem was like touching an infected, open wound, and with that dust in it, it probably felt a thousand times worse.

Finally, she started hearing whimpers from within the white gas. Sapphire was so covered in the strange dust that she was barely visible, and evidently the stuff was starting to leak into her gem. Ruby did nothing. It wasn't like she could if she tried.

The red gem let out a soft sigh, trying to crush down the million screaming feelings within her. Hurting herself further wasn't going to help. Yelling like a maniac wasn't going to help. Begging for mercy _certainly_ wasn't going to help. Nothing was going to help, and the sooner she accepted that, the sooner she could start strategizing.

Briefly, the red gem wondered what would happen if the roles were reversed. Would Sapphire be freaking out like her? Definitely not. She probably would have figured out an escape plan days ago. Why couldn't she be like that? Why couldn't she just concentrate and save her partner, the way she could do in a different situation?

She looked up as the hissing noise stopped. An abrupt whirring began from somewhere in the farthest wall, and Ruby blinked as the white gas started to slowly recede from Sapphire's cell. First, it vanished from the air, vacuumed up by some sort of eerily disguised ventilation system, before the dust was too drawn out of the space. Finally, the red gem watched as the white residue was sucked off of Sapphire, disappearing as though it had never been there.

It was a few minutes before the deadly gas was completely gone from the cell, and it was clear Sapphire was not unscathed. She lay on the ground, unmoving and small. However, Ruby felt a wonderful wave of relief crash over her. The fact she was projecting a physical form at all meant her gem wasn't too damaged for her to function.

After a few tense moments, Sapphire let out a barely audible moan and rolled over, eyes squeezed shut. Ruby couldn't see the harm done to her gem due to the fact her fingers were still stubbornly clenched around it, but the movement stirred up even more hope within her. Finally, the blue gem's knuckles relaxed and her fingers spread, revealing the damage.

Needless to say, Ruby's relief came crashing down.

Tiny droplets of her gem had been melted away altogether. The crack, which had been deep but small by danger standards, was now a wide-open gash dangerously close to splitting. Tiny flecks of white dust fell out of her gem as she flexed her fingers, and Ruby winced as she heard a few weak murmurs of pain.

Apparently, they had managed to mess up Sapphire even more.

Ruby turned away from the field, feeling her knuckles go an unnatural shade of white and her legs grow weak. It was making her feel sick watching. No gem should ever have this done to them. No gem should ever have to watch this done to another. Nothing about this was right. Nothing about this was fair.

 _The world doesn't tend to be fair, Ruby_ , came a voice that sounded heartbreakingly like Sapphire's through Ruby's mind.

"I know," Ruby mumbled aloud, not caring if the captors heard her. It wasn't like they were going to do anything. They certainly hadn't when she had begged before.

As the red gem watched her lover pick herself up and examine the damage, an air of action started to wisp about her. She knew this couldn't go on much longer. Every test had to meet an end at some point, and the Homeworld gems couldn't carry on forever. Something had to happen soon, and if these cowards of scientists weren't going to let Sapphire be healed or at least see her, then something else was going to be done. And Ruby was going to make it happen.

And as soon as it had come, she felt the strength fading. Who was she kidding? She was a little fighting gem against an army. If she couldn't beat a containment field, then she sure as heck wasn't going to beat a living enemy. She couldn't protect anybody. She couldn't protect her Sapphire.

She didn't want to punch anything anymore. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to do anything. She was alone, and she needed her other half more than ever.

* * *

 **iNsANe oNe: Haha! Bet you guys didn't think I would even appear did ya? Just here to say thanks to everybody for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. It's been awesome, and as our school is drawing to an end so is this story~ It's been fun, but I really just wanted to appear to tell you that this was mostly Perve writing and me brainstorming. It's split like this cause if I did any writing it would be WAY different than Perve's and it would be too hard for me to keep up. So most of the torture ideas were mine, Perve just wrote them for me :3 (Ain't she great?) But it really has been fun and I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Please follow, favourite, or review. It's great to hear feedback from you guys!**

 **Monty: A/N: Yeah, so… Ze wanted to tell you guys ze's actually writing this with me. Sort of. Well, can't argue with that.**

 **Anyways, thanks for all of what ze said above. Oh, and my name's not Perve. It's Monty. Don't call me Perve.**


	6. Fighting Free

**Chapter Six**

Ruby awoke from her second dormancy reluctantly.

She had experienced another dream. This time, she was walking through Beach City alongside her team. Steven had wanted to get ice cream, and Amethyst had agreed. Though Pearl found the idea rather revolting, Garnet had decided it was a good idea, especially for the usage of team bonding.

Steven had polished off his own cone relatively fast, while Amethyst seemed to forget how fast ice cream melted in the hot sun. Pearl had been subtly pointing at the sticky mess on the purple gem's arm for nearly five minutes before it starting trickling down her shirt, and that was the end of that. Ruby remembered how Garnet had smiled as Amethyst stuck out her tongue and attempted to lick up all of the melted dessert.

She was so lonely.

Ruby punched herself half-heartedly in the arm, snarling at her own weakness. She couldn't wallow in her own self-pity forever. Eventually, she needed to do something, or at least watch something be done. Crying over the fact her love was unaware of her was completely useless.

Even so, she didn't stop herself from letting out a small whimper of frustration.

 _Calm down_ , came the voice within Ruby's head again. _Allow yourself to relax. The more you panic, the less you think, and thinking is how you're going to get out of this_.

The red gem slowly untensed her face and hands, closing her eyes and taking deep, cool breaths. Sapphire - no, herself, she… she was right. If she wasn't going to punch her way through the wall, she might as well find a way to walk around it.

Briefly, she allowed herself to wonder what time it was back on earth. Was it daytime, or nighttime? The fact her inner clock had allowed herself to sleep may have meant it was night. Then again, she had been in here for who-knows how long… The amount of strain her body and mind had been put through during her time here had messed her up almost certainly.

Her fingers curled. What could she do? She had examined the cell thoroughly. There didn't seem to be any seams in the corners where she could pry the walls apart. The ceiling was made out of the exact same material as everything else, so she couldn't break through that. There wasn't a visible door. She was stuck, and there didn't seem to be any way out.

Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard the door in Sapphire's cell opening. She whipped around. Something was happening now.

* * *

Sapphire heard the sound of the door in her cell sliding open. Her vision, having gone fuzzy and whitish since her gem had been damaged further by the air, flickered, and she winced. It was very bright.

She heard a footstep as somebody entered. Blinking rapidly and straining to see, she let out a gasp as she started to make out a figure. It wasn't a very tall figure, but a strong and stocky one, with a slight hint of red. She stumbled closer, her mouth opening in shocked disbelief as she squinted, making out who it was.

" _Ruby?"_

* * *

The gem was small, Ruby could see instantly. She couldn't have been too much taller than herself. Her clothes were similar, though, and her gem was set firmly into the area just above where Amethyst's gem would be. Upon looking a bit closer, Ruby finally found out what it was - a rather small topaz with a bored-looking expression.

From the instant the topaz entered, Ruby felt extremely on edge, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling up and an uncomfortable feeling of jitteriness entering her veins. Her muscles tensed, her shoulders pulled back, her head lowered. Unconsciously she had allowed herself to slip into battle mode. Her eyes flicked and narrowed angrily as she watched the topaz slowly step forward completely into the cell.

Sapphire blundered forward, not as much crawling as propelling herself out of the kicking power of her legs. The red gem observing watched carefully, mouth opening in shock as she heard the utter of "Ruby?"

The topaz looked a bit surprised, stepping back before narrowing her eyes. Sapphire continued to push herself forward, her movements growing more and more erratic. "Ruby, did you come back to find me? I thought you hated me…"

The topaz lifted up a communicator and softly said into it, "How much hallucinogenic did you give her again? She thinks I'm a ruby." The reply was too garbled for Ruby to make out, but the red gem loathed the suddenly-crafty look on the topaz's face when she heard.

Meanwhile, Sapphire was still speaking. "I can't believe you came back… What happened? How are we going to get home?"

The topaz moved forward, still smirking. "Don't worry. I know a way out of here, but we need to fuse to make it."

Deep within Ruby, something awakened when she heard the word _fuse_. At the same time, something deeper snapped.

"Oh, of course," Sapphire answered, sounding incredibly happy. Ruby was on her feet in seconds, feeling her old wounds open up as she furiously pounded on the containment field. Blood trickled down her fingers, but that didn't discourage her as she drew back her fists and hit the wall again and again and again. No. She could take Sapphire in pain, she could take her blundering around blindly, despite how much it hurt her. But she couldn't take the sight of her fusing with another gem.

The topaz reached down with look of slightly-concealed disgust on her face, trying to grab Sapphire's uninjured hand. However, this proved to be a rather difficult process. Sapphire seemed unable to pull herself onto her feet, as every time she tried, her legs would give and she would once again smack against the floor. Each time it happened, the topaz would roll her eyes and try again.

"My… apologies," Sapphire murmured, her voice heavily laced with pain. "I don't think I can stand."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll hold you up," the topaz grinned horribly. However, Ruby barely heard due to the fact the yellowish gem spoke at the exact same time she crashed her hand against the field.

As she watched the topaz grab Sapphire under both arms and roughly hoist her into the air like a ragdoll, Ruby felt that compressed anger boiling deep inside her once again. It was getting stronger, scalding the underside of her skin and filling her head until there was nothing but fury-filled energy and heat. She could feel something in her gem starting to generate, although she had no idea what it was.

The topaz finally managed to balance Sapphire on her feet, holding her shoulders with small hands. Sapphire, leaning against her, seemed to notice something. "Ruby, did you regenerate? You're taller than me."

"Yeah. Long story short, I tried to hurt a guard." The topaz was practically crowing out the words, her horrible smile only adding to her smug features. Ruby felt a short pulse of something, tensing every muscle in her body and making her hair stick up a bit. Unconsciously she started to walk backwards, away from the field, her instincts taking over.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to take care of you," Sapphire spoke softly. The topaz's maniac smile faded, a rather confused expression taking its place. She held Sapphire just a bit further from her body.

"It's ok," she answered in an uneasy tone. Ruby let out a sharp snarl. She wasn't even speaking in words anymore. Any sound out of her mouth was just pure anger, and nothing more complicated than that.

The topaz seemed unknowing of what to do to fuse. She tried to dip Sapphire, only for the blue gem to stop her confusedly. The topaz immediately ceased, a frightened expression coming over her, as though worried that her ruse had been compromised. Oh, how Ruby wanted that to happen. Oh, how she wanted to tear the flesh away from that smug little gem, and kick her until she knew how Sapphire had felt. She felt another pulse, this time stronger.

"Ruby, you can just lift me up," Sapphire smiled tiredly, with a hint of amusement on her face. "Are you ok?"

"Fine," the topaz answered gruffly, not wanting to meet the colorless eyes of the captive. Ruby gritted her teeth as another throb of pure energy flew under her skin. She could feel herself growing hotter, a few beads of sweat threatening to drip down her brow.

The topaz lifted Sapphire up, shifting a bit from foot to foot before starting to twirl, much the way Ruby remembered doing all the times they had danced to form Garnet. Despite her fury, she felt tears subtly pricking her eyes as she watched. However, her sorrow and feelings of betrayal were quickly crushed down by unforgiving anger, and the heat within her continued to rise. Something was building up.

Sapphire looked almost blissful as the topaz slowly spun her, trying to keep her balance. Ruby felt the blood dripping down her knuckles as the backs of her legs bumped the wall. Her head was lowered now, fists balled up and drawn back, as though she were trying to turn herself into a bull.

The moment the pair's gems started glowing, Ruby felt a pulse nearly tear apart her physical form.

In the milliseconds that her mind registered that her love and this unknown enemy were going to fuse, something strange happened. She felt as though something deep were broken, a dam that was holding back a waterfall. Almost in slow motion, the raw energy that had been boiling under her skin for days seemed to finally have had enough. Her walls had been torn down. There was no more patience left in her soul. She had finally snapped completely.

With a roar that could tear apart mountains, Ruby charged.

Her hands were outstretched, her head completely down and legs moving as fast as she could make them. All the energy she had been holding back crackled and broke free, searching desperately for an outlet as she tore forward. The field was approaching, and for a second, she felt a tiny sliver of peace enter her as she completely let go of herself.

And then she collided.

It was most definitely an explosion.

Though her eyes were closed, a blinding light blazed into her vision as her fingers touched the field. The massive buildup of electricity she had been generating had finally found a way out, and she heard the deafening sound of something ripping apart. Her raw emotions had literally created a weapon she could use, and use it she did, as she felt everything leave her and everything envelope her at the same time.

In comparison to the last few seconds, the next few seemed rather dark. She was dimly aware of the fact she had shattered the field. Ruby could still feel the aftershocks of the massive amount of electricity crackling over her skin, flickering about her form and casting a faint light onto her.

Slowly, she raised her head. Sapphire was lying on the ground, her head turned towards her frantically. The topaz was standing over her.

The room was completely dark except for the luminous cracks spreading out from the hole Ruby had smashed in the field. Briefly, she felt a small twinge of pride. She had released an electrical surge strong enough to short-circuit the entire facility.

Slowly, she took a step forward. The topaz didn't move.

All the anger the red gem had felt during her time in the facility came pouring out as she quietly growled a warning. "Get away from Sapphire."

The topaz, visibly shaking a bit, uneasily smirked. "Or what?"

The enemy barely had a chance to blink. Ruby lunged at her, a scream of anger tearing itself from her lungs as she bore down on the other gem. Her fists were a whirlwind. In just a few punches, the topaz had been knocked to the floor, clearly not having expected the weaker gem to attack.

Under normal circumstances, Ruby would have lost the fight. But her unbridled fury, combined with the sharp aftershocks of electricity crackling through her gem, made her a formidable enemy. She was ruthless, helpless, angry beyond belief, smashing at the other gem's face until it was bloody and unrecognizable.

Finally, the topaz curled up into a ball and retreated into her gem with a loud poof. Sapphire was pulling herself up now, gaze flicking around fearfully. Instantly, Ruby felt her lividness starting to fade. The blue gem was still blind and hallucinating, and she needed to get her someplace safe as fast as she could.

Without so much as a word, Ruby reached down and wrapped her arms tightly around Sapphire's limp body. She heard her partner let out a slight whimper, and every instinct was screaming that she speak, but she didn't have time for that. Besides, who was she to know that Sapphire wasn't seeing her as an enemy right now?

The red gem approached the door, adrenaline still pumping through her veins, and had no trouble prying it open. The electricity that kept it closed was most likely burned out, or had no valid path to use. She was greeted with a long hall, almost completely dark if not for a rather eerie glow coming from the ceiling. Without hesitation, she began to run, taking wild turns and keeping her nose tilted up in the air, trying to find fresh air that would lead her to freedom at last.

A few hundred meters of running and she nearly sobbed in relief as she spotted a warp pad. She ran for it, feeling sweat and tears and blood run down her face as she leaped onto it. She screwed up her face in concentration, finally finding a destination that seemed to have other warp pads near it. White light engulfed the two, and they landed in a room full of the transporters.

Ruby wasted no time in finding another, closing her eyes and warping with Sapphire in her arms once again. She opened them once she felt solid ground underneath her, and her jaw dropped in disbelief. She was at the galaxy warp, standing on top of a warp pad that had been inexplicably fixed. For a second, she paused.

They might have seen her warping. There was no taking chances, not with Sapphire injured and Steven vulnerable. As much as she wanted payback, it was too dangerous. She raised a fist and smashed it into the pad, not even flinching as it cracked and shards dug into her hand.

With the transporter destroyed, she ran as fast as she could towards the domestic warp and hopped onto it, finally relaxing as the white light shined on her skin. The energy started to fade from her, and for the first time since she had broken through the field, she realized just how drained she was. Her entire body ached, and she didn't feel the usual radiation of strength from her gem that she usually did. _I must have used more than I thought generating that electricity_ , she thought to herself musingly as the world started to spin before her, and everything faded wonderfully to black.

* * *

 **iNsANiTy: Gods we're awful Perve. So going to FanFic Hades or something. . . Hope you guys enjoyed the Fic! I believe we have one more chapter left and that'll be the end of 'Helpless'. I don't know about you Perve, but despite the pain and anguish we have brought upon ourselves and others I had a lot of fun. ^~^ Please review, favourite, or follow. We love hearing from you guys and this has been a blast!**

 **Monty: Shh. Quiet. You know that Fanfic Hades is DeviantArt. You don't even have an account there. Stop calling me Perve.**

 **Yeah, so… One chapter left! Woot! Gonna go start writing that. Until we post again, peace out, and please leave us feedback!**


	7. Garnet

**Chapter Seven**

"Wow, I can't believe Steven hasn't woken up yet. Hah, more for me."

Amethyst reached into the refrigerator with a huge smirk on her face, grabbing the chocolate syrup and adding it to the counter along with a bag of nachos and a twinkie. She shut the door quietly and had hardly begun adding all the ingredients into a mixing bowl when she was suddenly engulfed with bright light, brighter than the depths of the fridge.

Dropping the bowl on the counter and running into the center of the room, Amethyst covered her mouth when she saw that the warp pad had activated. "What the… Pearl's still outside… Does…"

Without wasting another second, the purple gem yelled as loud as she could. "PEARL! PEARL! THE WARP PAD! THE WARP PAD IS ACTIVATING!"

"Huh?" came a sleepy murmur from up in the loft. Steven peered over the edge of the floorboards with bleary eyes. "Wha's goin' on?"

"Oh my gosh, Amethyst!" Steven's exhausted questioning was cut short as Pearl threw open the door and ran to her friend's side. "The warp pad! What if…"

"We just have to hope," Amethyst replied darkly. Meanwhile, Steven was starting to drag himself down the stairs, face growing increasingly more awake as he realized just what was going on.

The warp pad shimmered, and all three gems felt their jaws dropping and hearts speeding up as they watched a pair of shapes appear in the stream. Steven had a somewhat hopeful face, while Pearl appeared very worried. Amethyst was looking up anxiously at the pale gem, wondering what was going to appear.

She didn't have to wait long. The light began to fade, and Amethyst held her breath as the figures finally materialized. She heard Pearl gasp in horror behind her.

Sapphire was lying on the warp pad, skin extremely pale and hair a complete mess. Her dress was slightly ripped, and a few droplets of bright red blood could be spotted staining her clothing. Amethyst put a hand to her mouth when she spotted her gem, almost cracked in two and covered in a cloudy substance.

The other figure was Ruby. She was knelt over Sapphire's body, blood trickling from multiple wounds on her face and hands. Part of her headband had been almost ripped into shreds. Her gritted teeth looked slightly chipped, and when she finally met the gaze of the three gems staring on in terror, her eyes were filled with pain.

However, this gaze lasted but a moment, as Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and retreated into her gem with a dark _poof_. This seemed to snap them all out of their shock.

Pearl ran forward at once, kneeling beside the warp pad and screeching, "Sapphire? Sapphire! What happened? Ruby in her gem," she gasped and nearly went to grab the blue gem's injured hand, "and what happened to yours?"

Sapphire looked up at her, hair still covering her eyes. Amethyst had by now joined Pearl with Steven just behind her, and brushed the wayward strands away from her face. Both gasped in hushed tones as they met Sapphire's colorless, near-lifeless gaze. Her mouth was opened in an exhausted gape.

"Sapphire? Sapphire, answer me!" Pearl cried, reaching for her uninjured hand to grab Ruby's gem. As though slapped, Sapphire quickly tightened her fingers around it and hid it in her dress. Amethyst turned to her distraught friend, placing a hand on her shoulder as comfortingly as she could.

"We need to get them to Rose's fountain, now," The purple gem murmured in what had to be the most serious tone she had ever used. Pearl pulled herself together and nodded. The pale gem scooped Sapphire up into her arms and got up onto the warp pad, barely waiting for Steven and Amethyst to join her before white light engulfed the three of them.

They appeared at the fountain, which shimmered with starlight. None of them had time to admire the beauty of it, for as soon as the glow faded, Pearl was sprinting towards the fountain with her injured friend cradled in her arms. Without a second thought, Amethyst grabbed Steven around the middle and started to run after her, knowing the boy was too tired to properly keep up himself.

As soon as they reached the water, Pearl lowered Sapphire in and submerged her entire body. Amethyst put Steven down, wading into the water herself to help. Steven watched both of them as they held both halves of his mentor underwater, their expressions grim and hands shaking.

Pearl was more scared than she'd ever remembered feeling. Sapphire's gem crack was so deep, there was no telling whether or not even Rose's magic could heal it. Ruby, still clutched tightly in the blue gem's hand, didn't seem to have taken too much damage, but the pale gem could only imagine the emotional trauma the two of them could have gotten through to become this injured.

Suddenly, she heard a gasp from Amethyst. Sapphire's gem was glowing faintly, the crack slowly repairing itself from the inside out. Steven, who had been suspiciously quiet, was now crying out of sheer relief. "Pearl? Pearl, she's going to be ok!"

"Sure she is," Amethyst smiled weakly. "She's Sapphire. They're Garnet. They're not going to be hurt so easily."

"Thank heavens," Pearl murmured.

Sapphire's gem emitted a bright flash before it finally completed reparation, fading back to a soft glimmer beneath the gentle waves of Rose's fountain. Pearl, with Amethyst's help, pulled Sapphire out of the water and laid her on the side. In a hushed tone, the purple gem asked, "Any idea why she didn't retreat?"

"None," the pale gem responded quietly. "She's clearly undergone extreme damage to her physical and gem form." She stared at the unconscious gem for a second. "Perhaps she was trying to hold on, so that she could defend herself if needed."

"She must have been trying really hard," Amethyst whispered in awe. Pearl smiled gently.

"Indeed, she must have."

Steven looked up from beside Sapphire's body, having finally pried Ruby from the blue gem's fingers. "Is Ruby going to be ok?" he asked.

"She's ok now, isn't she?" Amethyst asked him in return, playfully shoving his shoulder. Steven smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so."

* * *

It was the next afternoon when Steven heard Sapphire yelling from the living room.

Pearl and Amethyst had gone out on a mission, and left Steven to watch the two halves of their leader wake up. He had been playing video games until he spotted a blue blur whipping across his couch like Sonic the Hedgehog. Coming to conclusion, he leaped to his feet and ran down the stairs as fast as he could, shouting "Sapphire! Sapphire, it's ok!"

Sapphire skidded to a halt beside the coffee table, looking up at Steven frantically. "Where's Ruby?" she asked, slightly hysterical.

"She had to retreat into her gem, but she's sitting right there in the basket!" He pointed to the small basket lying on top of one of the couch cushions. Sapphire seemed to slip out of her frenzy as soon as she noticed the dark gem, and picked it up, cradling it gently in her arms.

"Thank you," she murmured. "I… I was so worried."

"No problem," Steven replied kindly. "So… what happened? Where did you guys go? I mean, you were missing for weeks… Pearl and Amethyst were really worried…"

Sapphire was silent for a moment. "It's a very long story. I'd rather wait until the others get home, and Ruby wakes up."

"Gotcha," Steven said. He paused before seemingly creating another question. "Are… are you ok?"

For the first time since he had seen her perhaps a year ago, Sapphire smiled. "I'm home, aren't I?"

"I guess."

Both were quiet for a few more seconds before Steven got up. "So, do you want to do anything now that you're awake?"

"I'd rather stay here and sit with Ruby," the blue gem answered softly. "We were separated while we were away, and I'd like to be there when she regenerates."

"I guess I'll go back to playing then." Steven looked a little put out, but it was nearly obscured by the sheer relief that Sapphire was awake and well at last. He walked back up the stairs, casting glances to the patient gem from time to time until the rest of his guardians returned home.

By the time the warp pad shined again, Steven had eaten dinner and watched a few episodes of _Crying Breakfast Friends_. As soon as he saw the bright light radiating from the room, he raced back down the stairs to meet the gems. Sapphire looked up from her position on the couch, moving for the first time in hours.

"Pearl! Amethyst! Sapphire's awake!" he cried as they landed on the crystal. Pearl's eyes grew wide and she leaped off, tapping the bubbled gem she had been carrying in a simple movement and heading towards the sitting room. Amethyst followed.

"That's great. Now she can tell us what happened on that mission." As soon as the three gems reached the couch, Sapphire had fully sat up, hands clasped over Ruby protectively. "You were extremely damaged when you appeared last night, Sapphire. We were lucky to get you to Rose's fountain in time."

"Thank you," Sapphire replied.

"You're very welcome," Pearl answered courteously. "But what happened when you were on the mission? You were missing for nearly a month."

Sapphire sighed, holding Ruby closer to her chest and looking down at the floor. "It may take a while to explain."

"Well, we have all the time in the world," Amethyst shrugged.

The blue gem nodded, and straightened up a bit as the other three gems sat down. "As far as I can remember, we were at the galaxy warp, and one of the pads had been repaired. We wanted to investigate it, but before we could break it again a gem appeared. She had a strange weapon… like the destabilizer, I suppose, perhaps a little smaller. We were split apart and upon regeneration, I was put under influence of chemicals that kept me unconscious.

"They put me under a series of…" she trailed off, looking at Steven cautiously. "Tests, they called them. They injured me, and made it so that I couldn't see Ruby, but I suppose she could see me. I was very scared. They cracked my gem and gave me doses of substance that caused rather disturbing hallucinations. I lost my touch with reality."

"How did you get out?" Steven marveled.

Sapphire blushed a bit. "I wasn't sure, exactly. When my gem was cracked, I was unable to see or even sense much. As far as I can tell, Ruby charged an enormous amount of electricity within her gem and released it, temporarily blowing out all the power in the facility where we were trapped. She fought a gem that had been trying to fuse with me and carried me here after destroying that warp pad."

"That must be why Ruby retreated into her gem," Pearl mused. "Building up that much power must have completely drained her. It would have been a miracle if she was able to remain conscious for long after that."

"I just hope she's ok," the blue gem murmured in reply. They were quiet. Finally, Steven gave Sapphire a rather awed look.

"Ruby must be really brave," he marveled. "After watching you get hurt, she still wanted to fight."

"I'm just amazed she didn't go crazy watching that," Pearl muttered under her breath.

"Well, it's all ok now!" Amethyst grinned. "Aw, Ruby never stays in her gem long. She'll be out before we know it."

"Hopefully you're right, Amethyst," Sapphire sighed. "I was very frightened to be without her in the facility, as I'm sure she was as well. Waiting to see her again is painful, and I hope I won't have to much longer."

* * *

Sapphire sat on the couch, staring down at the small red gem with a blank expression.

It didn't take Ruby long to regenerate. She had seen her do it in the space of a day easily. It had been five.

"Ruby…" Sapphire breathed softly, stroking the gem. "I miss you. How much longer are you going to take?"

Of course, the stone didn't offer any response. Sapphire sighed and turned on her side, lying down on the cushions and for once taking her sight off her partner's gem. "You don't usually take this long," she continued. "I don't know what you did back there… and I'm sorry I wasn't conscious enough to see what happened. But I went so long without knowing you were there… I should have known."

She closed her eyes, holding onto the gem tighter. White filtered through her eyelids.

Immediately Sapphire snapped her eyes open again. Ruby's gem was glowing brilliantly, floating out of her hands into the air and lighting up the evening-dark room. The blue gem scrambled to her feet, forgetting grace in her haste to greet her partner as her gem shimmered with a light that made everything seem so much brighter.

Energy surrounded the floating gem and morphed into a human-like shape, slowly filling in her hair and clothing as the substance became more solid. Sapphire felt her breathing speeding up as it intensified before dimming and gaining color.

Ruby flopped to the floor, head whipping around wildly with panic. "Sapphire? Sapphire, where are you?!"

"I'm right here, Ruby," Sapphire replied softly, her voice shaking with joy. It had been so long since she had seen the little red gem. Ruby turned around, eyes widening with disbelief, then unbelievable happiness as she caught sight of the blue gem at long last.

"SAPPHIRE!" she cried, running with a speed that could rival her partner's. Sapphire barely had time to blink before strong arms wrapped around her, squeezing her tight and shivering with elated sobs. "Oh my gosh, I thought you were gone… You were so hurt… Oh Sapphire, I'm so sorry…"

"Ruby, there's nothing to be sorry for," she murmured back gently, stroking Ruby's curly hair. "You were amazing. You broke us free and saved me in the process."

"Yeah, but I went into my gem… We're back, aren't we? In Steven's house?"

"Yes."

"That's great," Ruby sighed happily. "That's so great… Oh, I missed you… I missed you so much…"

"As did I," Sapphire smiled. "It's a relief to have you back." She leaned forward and kissed Ruby, bumping their noses together a bit as she tilted her head. Ruby fluttered her eyes closed and embraced her tighter, the pair hugging and keeping their faces together while giggling softly out of pure relief and delight.

Steven peeked out from behind a door frame, covering his mouth as to not let them hear his excited squeak. They looked so happy. Ruby was rocking back and forth with Sapphire clinging to her, a beautiful sound of laughter coming from both of them. The small boy smiled as they both collapsed onto the couch, blushing and wiping away each other's tears and embracing so that they almost looked like Garnet again.

Within a few moments, their gems were glowing and the pair were engulfed with bright light. Steven covered his mouth as Garnet appeared, chuckling and rubbing her eyes. She reclined back into the couch and stared at the ceiling, grinning wide.

"Steven, I know you're there," she smiled. The boy protested but retreated from behind the frame. She smirked a bit as he walked in front of her, flicking her hands across her face and materializing her glasses.

"Garnet, are you ok?" he asked, looking up at her with a hopeful face.

"Better than ever," she responded, reaching down to tousle his hair. With a huge grin of his own, he burst forward and hugged her leg.

"I'm so happy you're back!"

* * *

She sat on the couch alone, reflecting.

Inside her head, the two parts of her that made her up were marveling and terrified at the same time.

 _That's what I looked like? When they hurt me?_

 _That's what you saw? What you were seeing?_

 _Did I really think that you said all that?_

 _Did_ _ **you**_ _really think I said all that?_

She sighed and put a hand to her forehead, feeling the warmth of one of her own gems touching her glasses. It was hard, that they both knew now. That they knew what each other had experienced.

"It's ok," she said in unison, looking towards Steven's loft. The boy was curled up, snoozing peacefully in his bed. Next to him sat a few pieces of paper, drawings if she had to guess.

Pearl was somewhere outside, most likely staring out at the ocean. Amethyst was probably asleep in her room.

She took care of them, she realized. She was their mom. What had they thought when she was gone? What if she had been gone for longer? Would they have gotten hurt? Would Steven have gotten hurt?

 _I'm sorry I took so long._

 _I'm sorry I almost lost hope._

The tall gem almost laughed as she felt tears bubbling up in her eyes. It was such a strange sensation, almost as though she were releasing the emotion itself through tears. She looked back up to the loft. Steven hadn't moved. Still asleep, mouth open comically and arms stretched out, he looked tiny.

She felt a warm protective feeling start up inside her. She was back together, now. And she was going to continue to protect this family.

 _Love will hold us together._

 _Love will hold us together._

* * *

 **iNsANiTy: ;~; Man Perves, you almost made me cry dude. Ah. . . oh Gods- this was so much fun to do with you! I'm happy we actually finished a story together for once. Thank you guys for reviewing, favouriting, and following! It was so much fun to do and you guys reading along with us just made this 20% cooler! I'm gonna go now, just used such an overrated phrase, not gonna hear me say it again. ^-^ Bai guys, thanks :3**

 **Monty: Stop calling me Perves. Anyway, yeah, I'm so glad you guys enjoyed this! I think I'm the only person in PonyGrim who's actually watching StevenBomb, but it's amazing! Chille Tid is tonight…**

 **So, I'm actually planning to write another Ruby/Sapphire piece soon, probably a oneshot. Also, Insane and I are talking about maybe writing Pearlmethyst… Leave feedback for us, please! We'd also love to take requests. Montydragon, out!**


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